Your Kingdom's Border
by The Lady Avaritia
Summary: AU. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Warnings for gore, yaoi, non-con, shota and unabashed angst.


**Title: Your Kingdom's Border**

**Rating: T**  
**Spoilers: G**eneral

**Characters**: Orochimaru; Madara

**Summary: AU. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Warnings for gore, yaoi, non-con, shota and unabashed angst.**

**Disclaimer: **disclaimed

**Author: **_Lady Avaritia_

**Kishimoto! I reject you! I reject the world you envision!**

**Begin: 16:23**

Orochimaru is thirteen when he is sent on his first seduction mission. He is sent on many seduction missions after this one. But every first time is memorable.

A virgin thrown into bondage. He will never forget. He will never forgive. The Hokage should've given him a choice. The Hokage should've warned him.

Some nights he wakes, after dreaming of it. _Slithering cold sheets. Chains. Whispered country secrets in his ear, kisses and love bites. Blood, lots of it, his blood. Whips._

It's all in fragments.

The mission was successful. The place, wherever that was, was obliterated, and the information he paid for in flesh, blood and humiliation, was put to good use.

He hadn't been ready. Hiruzen should've known better. Sometimes, he still feels like he can hear the voice of that man in his ear. But no.

He killed the man. Some high-ranking government official full of sick and twisted desires, a man who whispered dirty words and state information in between whip lashes and soft kisses. Orochimaru had killed him. He had strangled him with one of the chains that hung from the bedpost, watched the light leave those lifeless eyes. Then he leaned down and kissed the still-warm lips of the corpse. He was bruised, and he was bloody. His muscles ached. There was a dull pain in his lower back. But he laughed. He threw his head back and he laughed, the sound of his voice echoing all through the room. That man was dead.

Orochimaru never allowed himself to be topped again.

~x~

Anything Orochimaru had ever done to Sasuke, had been done with Sasuke's consent. Their heated nights together, when it had been all lips, tongues, teeth, hands, chests, skin… Sasuke had wanted all of it, had wanted more. He was not ashamed to admit that Orochimaru was his first, but he was as good as any other lover, and perhaps even better. The first night he'd been surprisingly gentle, his kisses hesitant, and his touches soft.

The nights after… not so much. He was demanding, and he was skilled, and Sasuke very much enjoyed the time spent in a different kind of training.

Orochimaru enjoyed his time with Sasuke. The boy was small in stature, his shoulders fitting perfectly into the older man's arms. His alabaster skin bruised easily, and his onyx eyes were beautiful when clouded with lust. He was slender in build, but he was also strong.

The sannin enjoyed him far more, perhaps, than he had enjoyed Itachi's company the only time he had shared it. Sasuke was more durable, certainly, and a lot more forgiving when it came to bruises and bite-marks the morning after. He was wild, putting in fucking the same anger he put in fighting. Itachi, in their brief night encounter, when the prodigy was still young, and broken, and needy, had been timid, and still, almost like he didn't feel anything.

No. Orochimaru found far more pleasure in Sasuke's fire.

And then of course, and he should've seen it coming, the boy

(_who had clung to him in the death of night, slender arms wrapped around his neck, and soft full lips whispering his name like a prayer_)

the boy tries to kill him. in his bedroom, in his bed, the boy tries to put a sword through him.

It's laughable. And Orochimaru wants to ask _why? Why, Sasuke? Didn't I uphold my end of the deal? Have I lied to you? I did all I promised and more? _

But there's no time for such questions. Instead, Orochimaru lashes out like a wounded animal. He, in his lonely bitterness, simply raged, blindly furiously, just trying to live for the sake of life, just to spite the world. he grappled on, desperate to survive, for the sake of survival, because life meant victory, and he would live forever.

Sasuke died, that night. Perhaps he had been dead for a long time ever since a beautiful prodigy slaughtered all kin like one might slaughter a flock of crows. But there's the thing with crows – as long as there's even one left of the original flock, it will go after you, it will try to tear your eyes out, it will try to get revenge.

Orochimaru hardly cared.

He sliced through Sasuke's abdomen in one smooth clean cut, and blood splattered his arm and the side of his face, a stark contrast against his white skin.

Sasuke died. And this is how the story begins. Maybe it began long ago, when Hiruzen stamped a mission scroll and handed it to a pale faced virgin, perhaps unaware, that when he returned months later, he would be debased and already on the path of carnage.

But this story. This story begins the night Orochimaru killed Sasuke.

~x~

in the wake of war everything seems peaceful. Everyone knows where they stand. Loyalties have been chosen. Akatsuki will strike the offensive. Madara is despised now, more than ever. The Allied Shinobi Forces are good. they are right. They are justified. All their opponents, immoral beings that they are, should cower in fear.

The Jashinists who live in Rice Country had set back, neutral as ever, the two warring fractions of the religion that grants immortality, for once set with each other. All eyes are turned on Konoha. Konoha, the village of light. The village that will bring all darkness down.

This is how war has been fought ever since the days of the First Hokage.

And then… the unthinkable happens. So sudden, so surprising…

It's one of those summer days, when even the sun is lazy. The heat is like a giant oppressor, determined to melt the fighting armies into the ground. This time, Konoha was on the verge of loss.

Konoha's fruitful soils are buried under the rotting bodies of dead. the stench in the air is like a punch in the nose. The clink of gear is rising to a crescendo. Honorable men prepare to die with the name of their motherland on their lips. And then… the other army strikes.

Not Madara's. Not Konoha's. an army of fresh soldiers, with polished amour and sharpened weapons.

'_Reinforcements! See? Reinforcements!'_ the cry goes all through the battlefield. This is all the weary fighters need to throw themselves into battle with renewed vigor. _Is it Suna? Is it Mist? Does it matter? The reinforcements have arrived. _

The enemy is crushed. The commanders retreat. Konoha celebrates. People dance in the streets. It has been so long since there was a breach in the fighting. Grimy bloody soldiers embrace civilian housewives, children sing, and dance!

_We won the battle, we won the battle!_

The Hokage, who has been a ghost of herself, a crumbling pillar, is suddenly alive, and her eyes dance.

She goes to greet the commander of the new unit. It's probably Suna, they received a letter for help first. It isn't Suna.

It's sound. The commander of the unit is a young man with long silver hair. Yakushi Kabuto. A traitor to Konoha. A spy for Orochimaru. He has cold eyes and pleasant smile. he greets Tsunade formally.

'_My master wishes to ally himself with Konoha.'_

'_Why?'_

'_I do not know.'_

'_If he wishes it, he should come in person.'_

'_I will inform him.'_

the Sound nin camp in front of the Konoha gate. They are not allowed into the village for anything other than necessities. They are all young savage people. Children. Killers. There is no difference. Tsunade has seen too many great wars in her lifetime.

Orochimaru comes a week later. His old teammate greet him. he looks as he looked when he left first left. Not a day older than twenty one. His eyes, golden and captivating, his high cheekbones, smooth pale skin, and thin lips twisted into an arrogant smirk. He is shielding himself from them. He doesn't trust her. Good. She doesn't trust him either.

'Maru.' Tsunade whispers first, staring at him wide eyed. He looks regal, in the blowing violet robes of the Sound Country lord. His sharpness softens, his smirk eases just a tad bit more into a real smile.

'Is that really you?'

He laughs, a slow sensuous sound. His voice is like a snake slithering on silk.

'Tsu~na~de~san,' he croons softly.

'Why are you here?'

'I want to ally myself with Konoha. Fight on your side once more. Akatsuki… no, Madara… took a very precious person from me. A lover… This, I cannot forgive.'

'A lover?' Tsunade echoes. She had known. Orochimaru had taken many lovers through the years, some of them had died, and yet… she had hoped… but no. he was not back for them. He was back for a nameless beautiful face, which had entranced him shortly.

'You killed sensei.'

He laughs again, coldly, bitterly, jagged glass shards stabbing the night.

'He deserved it,' the words drop venomously.

She sighs.

'Konoha accepts Sound's alliance,' she says, and her bones ache, and she feels tired and old.

He nods.

'Good,' he says. 'I should inform my troops.'

He turns his back on her, as he has always done, and prepares to walk anyway.

'Maru, wait!'

he half-turns, expectantly.

'What is it, Tsunade-san?' he sounds old and weary too.

'Come back,' she says. 'Come back here,' she gestures towards the air around her. 'Come back to me. Be my lover again. Like before. Just… return to me. To us. To Konoha. Jiraiya would have wanted it.'

'But Jiraiya is dead,' he hisses at her. She recoils.

'I make myself your ally. I give you my army. Make no mistake, Tsunade. I am not back for good. I want Konoha destroyed. But I want it destroyed on my terms. I am not your teammate, anymore, neither am I your friend. We are enemies, but we have allied against a greater enemy.'

He may as well have struck her. His words rain on her like blows, leave her cut up and bruised, go past her defenses. She wavers on her heels. This is Orochimaru. Her Orochimaru. She loved him so.

'I do not love you anymore, Tsunade. And I am no longer your lover.'

His voice is brittle, dusty and tired. Almost as if he doesn't believe himself quite enough. Denial on the rocks, and make it hard.

'STOP THIS!' she yells. 'Just stop this!' tears are running down her eyes. 'If you don't love me… if you don't care… why are you doing this then? To me? To yourself? Why? ANSWER ME!'

she throws herself at him, because damn it, he is hers. Her teammate, friend, brother, lover, her everything, he is all she has left. She beats at his rock hard chest with her fists, and then she kisses him on the lips. They're cold, and they taste like blood. He pushes her away. Not roughly, but firmly.

'I am not yours anymore Tsunade,' he tells her, once again, repeats it quietly and slowly, like he's talking to a child, 'I can never come back to you as of old.'

This time she nods numbly, lower lip still quivering. He presses his lips to her forehead.

~x~

The Sound shinobi are allowed within the Konoha walls. Orochimaru's medics flood in the hospital and ease the work of the exhausted Konoha healers. His troops, in small organized groups, strike down along the enemy line.

Two weeks. That's how long it lasts. Two weeks of relative calm. Of routine. Then _Dusk _strikes. It's a poison. A new poison. _Sasori's doing_, Orochimaru mutters, as he examines a corpse. It's fast and effective, and the Allied Forces are rapidly dropping in number.

'I know how he works,' Orochimaru says. 'I can break it,' he says. 'Give me your two top medics and a lab and seventy-two hours, and I'll give you an antidote.'

Tsunade nods, numbly, because Kakashi was among the first wave of striken and it's oddly like losing Dan all over again.

~x~

Sakura does not trust Orochimaru. Sakura does not like Orochimaru. His eyes frighten her. His smile repulses her. His beauty attracts her.

Shizune is scared of Orochimaru. Even when she was a little girl, he'd always call her 'little mouse'. She'd never liked that nickname, especially since he was a snake.

Now they are alone, the three of them, in a basement laboratory, working side by side. He jabs the needle with the poison sample in the visible blue vein of his left forearm.

'We have exactly seventy-two hours to figure out a way to stop this thing from killing me,' he informs them cheerfully.

That's what poisoners do. That's the one certain way to make a good antidote. Every fifteen minutes he reports how he feels. The muscle spasms won't start until the second day, so for now, he stands beside Shizune, and works with her, giving her directions in a quiet voice. Apparently, he thinks Sakura doesn't require supervision.

'You look sad.'

He startles, and turns around to face her. Sakura is mixing a short-term cure for the fever that appeared a few hours back.

'Excuse me?'

'When you think they can't see you. you look sad. Are you…' she pauses and gulps, 'are you alright? And don't just… say you are. I know what this means, looking sad when you think no one can see you.'

'But you can see me, little mouse.'

'I don't count.'

He has nothing to reply to that. In silence, slowly, they break through the complicated composition of what is probably Sasori's greatest accomplishment.

Sakura is filled with malicious glee when she jams the syringe (_a lot more forcefully, perhaps, than was called for_) into the man's arm, and had him return to health.

'So very ingenious of you, Sakura-chan,' he congratulates her mockingly. She narrows her eyes at him, and storms out of the lab with the first batch of antidotes. Shizune remains behind, to clean the working area, and he lingers in the doorway.

'I think,' he begins softly, 'I think, little mouse, that I'm going to die soon.'

But he leaves before she can reply.

~x~

Konoha falls on the third week of its alliance with Sound.

Orochimaru and Tsunade are in her office, discussing strategy, when he interrupts her.

'You and Jiraiya always used to joke about how I'm a sociopath and I have no feelings. How I don't have a conscience. Remember that?'

'Yes?'

'Do you remember… Do you remember when we had that mission in Rice country. After Dan died? I risked my life for you.'

'Yes. Why bring it up now?'

'Because, Tsunade, I am trying to tell you, I am trying to tell you that I did have feelings. For you. and Jiraiya. I loved you both. But you have to understand, Tsunade. Love is not an advantage. And I can't afford to be at disadvantage. I guess I'm trying to tell you… regardless of how this looks… I am sorry. I have never been any more sorry. But I know now… you would never follow me.'

He's gotten close to her, too close to her. She can smell the death on his, can see the tiny specks of caramel in his eyes, can hear the steady beats of his heart. He kisses her on the lips, sudden and surprising, and horrifying. His fingers dig in her chest, while his other arm wraps around her body to steady her, as he lowers her to the flour. Her heart is sleek and bloody beneath his nimble fingers.

Tsunade, beautiful golden Tsunade, he loved her so. When he steps back, her body is shriveled and old.

'I could've made you immortal,' he says wistfully.

But the signal for the attack has been given. The sound shinobi, who had, only moments before, protected the villagers, have now turned on them with the same savage brutality.

'_Obliterate Konoha.'_

The setting sun is dying the horizon a bright arterial red, while the blood on the streets quickly becomes matted with dust.

_Spare no woman, no child, no old. _

Madara's own army joins the onslaught.

The last Uchiha appears on the top of the Hokage tower, where Orochimaru stands, watching the carnage before.

'It finally happened,' he says, coldly, darkly.

'About time,' the other man agrees, something akin to triumph in his voice.

'And come think of it… all we had to do… was join forces.'

Orochimaru turns around to face the other immortal. Madara's eyes glow like embers, and his hair, like a raven's wing, blows in the wind behind him.

Madara crosses the distance between them, and envelops the other man in his arms. Orochimaru is thinner than him, and, in this body, shorter, but his lips taste the same – blood and death. The sannin, the last sannin, melts into the embrace, and responds to the kiss almost desperately.

'They deserve it,' he whispers brokenly, when he pulls away, 'every last wretched one of them, they deserve it,' he spits the last sentence out like it's something foul in his mouth.

'They do,' Madara agrees quietly. 'They all do.'

The Mangekyo spins, and the first indigo spark of the Amaterasu jumps in the air. The village wall is engulfed in the black flames, and everyone within it is trapped. The Allied Forces, the Akatsuki troops, Sound shinobi… everyone. Orochimaru leans back in his newest lover's arms, and there's a sort of painful satisfaction in him, a malicious sense of triumph, a hurtful contentment, that only comes to those who have completely destroyed their home.

'_I will never set foot back here again._' He whispers, but his voice dies in the cackle of the flames.

By mid-day it's just him and Madara, walking the path of carnage, returning to nowhere, the sole survivors, the sole winners, of the war.

This is how the story ends.

~x~

Sasuke's body has not yet cooled in the shallow grave when Itachi attacks Orochimaru. But Itachi miscalculated. He beat the sannin once, when he was still strong, but now he is weak, and ill, and his lips are stained with blood.

This time, Orochimaru does not fall for his illusions, so cruel and torturous, they are kind of artful, even.

And this time, Orochimaru wins. It's not the body of the Uchiha he desired originally, but it will do. This one is weakened, and feeble. But really, is there anything Kabuto, priceless, talented, beautiful Kabuto cannot do? Kabuto is planning a betrayal.

He first looks at the world through an activated Sharingan, and he thinks, _pity, there's no one to understand the beauty of it. _

That's only two days before he meets Madara. And Madara… Madara is all kinds of cunning, and beautiful, and charming, a pleasant snake, much like him.

And together, the two last Sharingan wielders plan the fall of Konoha.

~x~

'_I loved it so much, the village. And the people. There were some good people too.'_

'_mhmm.'_

'_Did you know, I had a daughter once?'_

'_Oh?'_

'_She was half-Hyuga. Her mother was Kokoro Hyuga, you might know who she is? The disowned heiress. Such a scandal.'_

'_Oh, I remember. She tried seeking political asylum in Ame. Damn those Hyugas to hell.'_

'_They lie like snakes on trees.'_

'_So what became of your daughter?'_

'_Dead.'_

'_How?'_

'_Poison.'_

'_I loved the village too.'_

'_Well… you helped founding it.'_

'_I did, didn't I? it was all those damned Senju, you know. Rotten, all of them.'_

'_Tsunade was a Senju.'_

'_There's always an exception to every rule.'_

'_Mhmm.'_

'_I had a brother. He died. The eyes I have now… they're his eyes.'_

'_He must've loved you.'_

'_He did.'_

'_It's good, that._

'_What?'_

'_When someone loves you.'_

'_It is.'_

'_Do you love me, Madara?'_

'_Don't be ridiculous. No.'_

'_Good.'_

But that. That happened after the end, and is all quite irrelevant.

**End: 17:34**

**Now, wasn't that nice?**


End file.
